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A review by booksnooksandcooks
Love from Mecca to Medina by S.K. Ali
2.5
To preface: I am not Muslim so my feelings might not align with religious standards in this review, if that makes sense. Because I’ve been reading a lot of reviews from Muslim reviewers talking about how annoying Zayneb was. But frankly, Adam was driving me up a wall with how oblivious, whiny, and boring he was.
First, this book reads completely different from the first book. They’re completely different ages and different stages of life from the first book, but it’s still written in the same mentality which detracts from their maturity. Zayneb feels like an entirely different character while Adam is just…passive. He’s incredibly privileged with wealth yet acts as though he’s destitute because his pride is too great to ask for help. Zayneb, on the other hand, is in her 1L (arguably the most important year for grades in law school), is dealing with being blasted in her school media, dealing with a terrible living situation, etc. but people are calling her whiny?? She’s anxious and overwhelmed and doesn’t even have a safe space to truly sit down and think through her feelings. Also, she’s a complete 180 from the first book and it felt like all of the righteous anger and powerful devotion to equity was watered down and tossed out the window until the end. I felt that no one but Sausun, Janna, and Mila had sympathy for her situation. In fact, Mila notices the way Sarina is acting and seems it a problem yet Zayneb is the one overreacting?
Sarina was obnoxious, but the thing I think a lot of people are glossing over is that she’s also ableist. She only knows Adam in the context of a diagnosis, but not his actual journey through MS and yet she seems keen to make decisions for him and infantilize him. That isn’t “caring”, that’s ableism.
All in all, the romance felt more like a middle school infatuation where they’re so codependent it’s unhealthy. Seriously. They’re supposed to be my age and yet they’re acting like this? For that, 2 stars.
First, this book reads completely different from the first book. They’re completely different ages and different stages of life from the first book, but it’s still written in the same mentality which detracts from their maturity. Zayneb feels like an entirely different character while Adam is just…passive. He’s incredibly privileged with wealth yet acts as though he’s destitute because his pride is too great to ask for help. Zayneb, on the other hand, is in her 1L (arguably the most important year for grades in law school), is dealing with being blasted in her school media, dealing with a terrible living situation, etc. but people are calling her whiny?? She’s anxious and overwhelmed and doesn’t even have a safe space to truly sit down and think through her feelings. Also, she’s a complete 180 from the first book and it felt like all of the righteous anger and powerful devotion to equity was watered down and tossed out the window until the end. I felt that no one but Sausun, Janna, and Mila had sympathy for her situation. In fact, Mila notices the way Sarina is acting and seems it a problem yet Zayneb is the one overreacting?
Sarina was obnoxious, but the thing I think a lot of people are glossing over is that she’s also ableist. She only knows Adam in the context of a diagnosis, but not his actual journey through MS and yet she seems keen to make decisions for him and infantilize him. That isn’t “caring”, that’s ableism.
All in all, the romance felt more like a middle school infatuation where they’re so codependent it’s unhealthy. Seriously. They’re supposed to be my age and yet they’re acting like this? For that, 2 stars.